Podium Predictions!

So Junior Worlds starts next week and I'm curious to see what people's predictions for the results are!

My predictions:

Men

1.) Dennis Ten
2.) Hanyu Yuzuru
3.) Armin Mahbanoozadeh

I was really impressed with Ten at the Olympics and Armin at nationals. I don't know much about Hanyu but from what I hear he is very good. Hochstein or Messing could also potentially sneak onto the podium depending on how everyone else performs.

Ladies : for those that don't know, Ashley Wagner has withdrawn and Kiri Baga is going to take her place.

1.) Kanako Murakami
2.) Christina Gao
3.) Anna Ovcharova

I love all three of these skaters, they are so energetic and cute ! Normally I would have Polina Shelepen above Anna but she has been struggling with her jumps and spins a lot recently while Anna has been performing very well. I think Polina might be going through a big growth spurt and it's affecting her jumps.

I love how we all agree on this and how they are grouped together. I hope these young Russians stay good so that they can revamp ladies figure skating in their country! Alena Leonova and Ksenia Makarova are doing a good job but I think some of these young girls have the potential to be the next Irina if puberty and/or injuries don't slow them down!

Also, does anyone know anything about Agnes Zawadski? She won the Jr. Title at US nationals but was not on the JGP and qualified through regionals and sectionals. Apparently she won the competition by a big margin too. As far as I know she does not go for 3-3 but appears to be a more grown up skater than most of the podium favorites, which may not help her much considering it is junior worlds. Potentially she could medal but I don't know much about her and if she's consistent or not, etc. Anyone know how she stacks up next to Murakami, Gao, and the Russians?

I love how we all agree on this and how they are grouped together. I hope these young Russians stay good so that they can revamp ladies figure skating in their country! Alena Leonova and Ksenia Makarova are doing a good job but I think some of these young girls have the potential to be the next Irina if puberty and/or injuries don't slow them down!

Also, does anyone know anything about Agnes Zawadski? She won the Jr. Title at US nationals but was not on the JGP and qualified through regionals and sectionals. Apparently she won the competition by a big margin too. As far as I know she does not go for 3-3 but appears to be a more grown up skater than most of the podium favorites, which may not help her much considering it is junior world
Potentially she could medal but I don't know much about her and if she's consistent or not, etc. Anyone know how she stacks up next to Murakami, Gao,
and the Russians?

At US nationals I believe Zawadzki scored higher than Gao but Gao skated senior while Zawaszki skated Junior.

At US nationals I believe Zawadzki scored higher than Gao but Gao skated senior while Zawaszki skated Junior.

You can't really compare the two though because I have a feeling Christine's scores were held back purposely, whereas not so much with Agnes. (They had no reason to with Agnes) Plus one thing that could hold Agnes back is I hear that she doesn't skate with a lot of speed (this is an issue with most of Tom Z's students...)

Agnes DOES have the highest total of all the competitors coming into JW. She scored 171 at US Nats, while K. Murakami scored 166 at Japanese Nats. Although I know it isn't really feasible to compare scores between national events, still....it is impressive. She will be the dark horse of this event.

Agnes DOES have the highest total of all the competitors coming into JW. She scored 171 at US Nats, while K. Murakami scored 166 at Japanese Nats. Although I know it isn't really feasible to compare scores between national events, still....it is impressive. She will be the dark horse of this event.

I guess she does have the highest score coming in. I still think there's a possibility one of the Russians will win the ladies title, they are all so feisty! Earlier this season I thought Shelepen was the best of the little Russians on the JGP but she has been struggling recently, and was beaten by Agafonova and Ovcharova at nationals. I like Ovcharova the best because of her speed, footwork, and choreography ....she gets SO into her programs it's really exciting! Agafonova is also excellent and has 3-3 but she's so little her skating doesn't have as much impact.

I guess she does have the highest score coming in. I still think there's a possibility one of the Russians will win the ladies title, they are all so feisty! Earlier this season I thought Shelepen was the best of the little Russians on the JGP but she has been struggling recently, and was beaten by Agafonova and Ovcharova at nationals. I like Ovcharova the best because of her speed, footwork, and choreography ....she gets SO into her programs it's really exciting! Agafonova is also excellent and has 3-3 but she's so little her skating doesn't have as much impact.

I think Shelepen is the strongest of the Russians. She has all triples and 3-3 combinations and she is more consistant than Anna or Polina A. She did very well at all of her international events when Anna and Polina A. had some problems with their LPs, thats why her total scores are so much higher. Anna doesn't have all triples (she doesn't have 3T and 3S), Polina A. often underrotates her jumps, especially 3-3 (at Senior Nationals she did 3Lz-3T and 3S-3T combos, but both were downgraded). Polina Shelepen's jumps are consistant and fully rotated

I think Shelepen is the strongest of the Russians. She has all triples and 3-3 combinations and she is more consistant than Anna or Polina A. She did very well at all of her international events when Anna and Polina A. had some problems with their LPs, thats why her total scores are so much higher. Anna doesn't have all triples (she doesn't have 3T and 3S), Polina A. often underrotates her jumps, especially 3-3 (at Senior Nationals she did 3Lz-3T and 3S-3T combos, but both were downgraded). Polina Shelepen's jumps are consistant and fully rotated

Also, at Russian Junior Nationals, Polina A won and beat Polina S by about 7 points, and Anna came in second and beat Polina S by about 5 points. So at this point it really seems to be a toss up over who is better, because all three have beaten the other two at some competition or another. Shelepen appears to have grown a lot recently and all in her legs so that might be giving her some trouble. I also think Christina Gao could potentially beat all three of the Russians if she does her 3t-3t in both programs where it is such a strong element for her and will garner her more points than the old 3flutz-2t she used to do.

Polina S. is so pretty with the long legs, but I think that they're going to give her trouble with the jumps. I keep thinking that she should have gone into ballet instead. She has the perfect body for that. I'm not sure if she'll be able to keep up the jumps as she fills out. She looks quite tall already.